kids as consumers
Parents are faced with the same problem every day; whether or not to allow their kids to watch TV. Some parents think that TV is perfectly fine and do not monitor the amount or the content of what they watch. While others forbid their
children from watching TV other than on specific times and only certain shows. Schor presents in the book an appealing argument that advertising should be taken out of the lives of our children. But in all honesty, is that possible? Whenever we listen in on the conversations of young children we mostly hear them talking about a new game, a new style, a new singer, what they want for Christmas (which by the way is most likely something they have seen on a commercial or in an ad), without all these things what would the tween world look like? How would children separate themselves from others? What children have or do not have divides them among “cool” and “lame”, it is how they chose their friends and how they communicate.
Advertisers make being “bad” look fun and amazing. They portray kids coming from bad neighbor hoods as what is in and they dress them up in expensive clothes to make them even more attractive. They may say they are just selling a pair of gym shoes or a t-shirt but what they are really selling is the whole “thug lifestyle”. Suburban whites try to copy the dress and behavior of the inner-city poor, believing that it makes them cool, “the life of ghetto kids is edgy, gutsy, risky...” (False Connections pg 257) which is all appealing to these white kids, as Kotlowitz observed “the wiggers greeted one another in the hallways with a high five or a twitch of the head. “ Hey, Nigger, wha’s up?””.(False Connections page 256-257) these white teens imitating the behavior of the poor teens. What they do not understand is how truly dangerous the life they are imitating really is. The way that “wiggers” dress and speak they imitate the inner-city poor believing that they have a lot in common, even driving the same cars around. But the truth is that “They have never has to comfort a dying friend … so that no student will be hit by falling plaster. They have never had to say “Yes,
Sir”…..” (False Connections page 257) Although these white teens believe that they are living the dangerous lifestyle they are protected all around and they are choosing to live this way, were as these inner-city kids are forced to
watch death and violence every day, not having a way out in most cases.
The media companies have even found a way to take over laws and regulations. Companies turn a blind eye to kids shoplifting just so that they can get their brand out into the teen world. They have backed away from the attempt to curb shoplifting because they realize that their companies don’t depend as much on the mere purchase of the product as much as they do the spread of their product “seeing your logo on “the right people,””. (No Logo: Money, Marketing, and the Growing Anti-Corporate Movement page 74) The companies put as much graphic content into PG-13 movies as they can to sell sex and violence to young children without being rated R, the companies are constantly just getting by a hair with the laws and runs of the regulators. The parents need to step up in this case and taking a stronger stand.
In the 21st century any way we look at it, our teens and preteens are being run by media. We have companies so focused on this age group of young children that they make it their main goal to attract and drag in the youth. From music, to movies, to clothes, and even food they analyze and analyze again the different ways of attracting and bringing in their purchasers, even how to get kids to get parents to do what they want. The media run out youth, they mediate from what our kids are wearing to what they are wearing and what is considered “cool” and what it “lame”. Maybe it is impossible to eliminate all advertising because no matter how we look at it ” money makes the world go ‘round” , but maybe we could make regulations much more strict on what they can present to children and how often. Every couple of minutes there is an ad on TV as well as pop-ups on the computer, cutting down the number of times companies are allowed to present material may not be such a bad idea. Also cutting back on the content for the ads, there is no reason for there to be Kay Y commercial during the day while children or teens watch programs on TV. If regulations do not do a good enough job controlling the ads, then all the responsibility falls back on the parents. With new technology, parents can block certain channels as well as record shows and later just move through the ads so that the children are not exposed to them. Many parents have started limiting the amount of time children spend in front of the TV, but the small amount that have not should take a few minutes from their hard, time consuming jobs, and see what their kids are watching and exposed to.
children from watching TV other than on specific times and only certain shows. Schor presents in the book an appealing argument that advertising should be taken out of the lives of our children. But in all honesty, is that possible? Whenever we listen in on the conversations of young children we mostly hear them talking about a new game, a new style, a new singer, what they want for Christmas (which by the way is most likely something they have seen on a commercial or in an ad), without all these things what would the tween world look like? How would children separate themselves from others? What children have or do not have divides them among “cool” and “lame”, it is how they chose their friends and how they communicate.
Advertisers make being “bad” look fun and amazing. They portray kids coming from bad neighbor hoods as what is in and they dress them up in expensive clothes to make them even more attractive. They may say they are just selling a pair of gym shoes or a t-shirt but what they are really selling is the whole “thug lifestyle”. Suburban whites try to copy the dress and behavior of the inner-city poor, believing that it makes them cool, “the life of ghetto kids is edgy, gutsy, risky...” (False Connections pg 257) which is all appealing to these white kids, as Kotlowitz observed “the wiggers greeted one another in the hallways with a high five or a twitch of the head. “ Hey, Nigger, wha’s up?””.(False Connections page 256-257) these white teens imitating the behavior of the poor teens. What they do not understand is how truly dangerous the life they are imitating really is. The way that “wiggers” dress and speak they imitate the inner-city poor believing that they have a lot in common, even driving the same cars around. But the truth is that “They have never has to comfort a dying friend … so that no student will be hit by falling plaster. They have never had to say “Yes,
Sir”…..” (False Connections page 257) Although these white teens believe that they are living the dangerous lifestyle they are protected all around and they are choosing to live this way, were as these inner-city kids are forced to
watch death and violence every day, not having a way out in most cases.
The media companies have even found a way to take over laws and regulations. Companies turn a blind eye to kids shoplifting just so that they can get their brand out into the teen world. They have backed away from the attempt to curb shoplifting because they realize that their companies don’t depend as much on the mere purchase of the product as much as they do the spread of their product “seeing your logo on “the right people,””. (No Logo: Money, Marketing, and the Growing Anti-Corporate Movement page 74) The companies put as much graphic content into PG-13 movies as they can to sell sex and violence to young children without being rated R, the companies are constantly just getting by a hair with the laws and runs of the regulators. The parents need to step up in this case and taking a stronger stand.
In the 21st century any way we look at it, our teens and preteens are being run by media. We have companies so focused on this age group of young children that they make it their main goal to attract and drag in the youth. From music, to movies, to clothes, and even food they analyze and analyze again the different ways of attracting and bringing in their purchasers, even how to get kids to get parents to do what they want. The media run out youth, they mediate from what our kids are wearing to what they are wearing and what is considered “cool” and what it “lame”. Maybe it is impossible to eliminate all advertising because no matter how we look at it ” money makes the world go ‘round” , but maybe we could make regulations much more strict on what they can present to children and how often. Every couple of minutes there is an ad on TV as well as pop-ups on the computer, cutting down the number of times companies are allowed to present material may not be such a bad idea. Also cutting back on the content for the ads, there is no reason for there to be Kay Y commercial during the day while children or teens watch programs on TV. If regulations do not do a good enough job controlling the ads, then all the responsibility falls back on the parents. With new technology, parents can block certain channels as well as record shows and later just move through the ads so that the children are not exposed to them. Many parents have started limiting the amount of time children spend in front of the TV, but the small amount that have not should take a few minutes from their hard, time consuming jobs, and see what their kids are watching and exposed to.